English speakers talk quicker than Japanese speakers – at an average rate of 11 syllables to one , to be precise . But when it get along to language efficiency ( that is , how much information is convey in a given flow of time ) , it is all much of a muchness . agree to linguists write in the journalScience progression , we all transfer information at a rate of 39.15 number per secondment – no matter our mother tongue .
The principal takeaway from the enquiry is the more efficient the language , the slower the rate of speech . Basque , for example , was rated the least " information - dull " of the 17 Eurasian languages analyze at five second per syllable . ( A bit being the amount of entropy needed to cut back dubiety by half . ) But it was spoken at a relatively high average hurrying of eight syllables per bit .
Researchers at the University of Lyon number to this closing after reckon the information concentration of 17 languages from Europe and Asia , including German , English , French , Spanish , Korean , Japanese , and Turkish . The team then compared the languages ' information density to the medium rate of speech of 10 speaker from each language , who understand 15 texts in their aboriginal tongue .
The solution propose that the rate of information remains invariant across speech communication – at about 39.15 bits per second . This stuck regardless of the various stylistic differences between languages . For object lesson , the number of phonemes , which run from 25 in Nipponese and Spanish to over 40 in English and Thai .
The field of study authors conclude that this suggests there is an optimum range when it comes to the pace at which selective information is bring , although there may be variation between soul . ( Interestingly , previous study have suggested that fast verbaliser produce less illuminating content than their more conscientiously spoken peers . )
But it will be interesting to see if these findings hold up in the discipline of other languages . The 17 analyse here are just a tiny fraction of the 7,000 or so languages spoken across the mankind – and they are geographically limited to Europe and Asia . The researchers also hope to find out if the same rules apply to casual conversation .
